MANILA, Philippines \u2014 Senator Bato dela Rosa yesterday gave more details about the unnamed ranking police official allegedly convincing\u00a0cops\u00a0to testify against him in his drug war crimes case before the International Criminal Court (ICC).<\/p>\n
In a dwIZ interview yesterday, Dela Rosa said the unnamed \u201cupper classman\u201d who betrayed him is in a powerful position under the present administration.<\/p>\n
The unnamed official was an appointee of the late president Benigno Aquino III and was supposed to get the ax under former president Rodrigo Duterte, but got to retain his post with Dela Rosa\u2019s help.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo sad of my upper classm an. When PRRD (Duterte) was about to remove you from your post because you are a PNoy appointee, I moved heaven and earth to dissuade him,\u201d Dela Rosa said in a Facebook post on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou finished the whole six-year term. Now, you are busy convincing PNP officers to testify against us in the ICC. God bless you, sir,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
In the radio interview yesterday, Dela Rosa said he would identify the official \u201cin the proper time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just posted that on Facebook to express my frustrations and ill feelings toward this person, whom I trusted and even helped. I wasted that trust on him as my upper classman, only for him to turn his back on me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dela Rosa said this schoolmate of his is of impressive record and influence that he was able to keep his post up to the administration of President Marcos. He refused to confirm if the official is part of the Cabinet.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it is not a question of skills. It is a question of values. I am not one to believe in one\u2019s debt of gratitude. But his chara cter is questionable for taking advantage of me, only to turn his back on me to be used as a pawn of the enemy,\u201d Dela Rosa said.<\/p>\n
Pressed for more details, Dela Rosa said the former friend is allegedly \u201cfollowing up\u201d on police officers to pin down Dela Rosa in the crimes against humanity case against him as the top drug war enforcer of Duterte.<\/p>\n
The brutal narcotics crackdown led by the police in the previous administration killed thousands of mostly poor drug users.<\/p>\n
Dela Rosa alleged there is also a \u201cbagman\u201d who carries the cash to entice cops to testify against him. He also did not name the alleged financier.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe won\u2019t be able to convince cops against me if he is not in a position of power. The financier is also a prominent person,\u201d Dela Rosa said without giving any more details.<\/p>\n
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV alleged that he has information that the ICC wo uld order Duterte and Dela Rosa\u2019s arrest this year. He also claimed at least 50 active and former police officers were implicated in the drug war probe.<\/p>\n
Dela Rosa, however, is still banking on Marcos\u2019 word of not cooperating with the ICC, even as there are signs from the legal briefer preparations of the Department of Justice that the administration seems open to rejoining the ICC.<\/p>\n
Duterte unilaterally withdrew from the Rome Statut e that created the ICC after a complaint was filed against him for his drug war.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no doubt 100 percent that the President will keep his word. I grew up in a family of Marcos loyalists. I wanted to be a soldier when I saw that his father took care of the military,\u201d Dela Rosa said, referring to the late Ferdinand Marcos Sr.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe in the President. It is the people around him that I don\u2019t trust anymore,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
MANILA, Philippines \u2014 The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) must evolve fast and \u201ctry to focus on actual soldiering\u201d because of threats to a \u201cfree and open\u201d Asia-Pacific region, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. said on Friday.<\/p>\n
The defense chief did not specify the threats, but his comments were made against the backdrop of China\u2019s growing belligerence in asserting its illegal claims in the West Philippine Sea.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will be increasing the pressure continuously for them to evolve, as soon as possible, into a multi-threat, multi-theater operating armed force,\u201d he said at the end of the annual Balikatan war games.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo amount of malign, or for lack of a better term, perverse attempts to subvert our goal for a free and open Indo-Pacific and a rules-based international order will stop our shared advance towards upholding these internationally accepted norms, come what may,\u201d Teodoro said, using the US preferred term for the Asia-Pacific the region.<\/p>\n
The 39th Balikatan drills, involving around 11,000 US, 5,000 Filipino and 100 Australian troops, began on April 22 and were concentrated in the northern and western parts of the Philippines, near the potential flashpoints of the South China Sea and Taiwan.<\/p>\n
The area has seen increased confrontations between Chinese and Filipino vessels, particularly around Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal and Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, as well as stepped-up Chinese air and naval activity around nearby self-ruled Taiwan.<\/p>\n
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries, including the\u00a0Philippines, and the 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague that Beijing\u2019s assertion has no legal basis.<\/p>\n
China deploys hundreds of coast guard, navy and other vessels to patrol waters way beyond its territorial seas.<\/p>\n
Last month China\u2019s coast guard on separate occasions blasted with powerful water cannons Philippine vessels delivering food and provisions to troops on BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal and to fishermen in Panatag Shoal.<\/p>\n
The attacks caused damage and injuries and sparked condemnation from the international community.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Lieutenant General Michael Cederholm, commander of the US First Marine Expeditionary Force, said the Balikatan exercises \u201cdirectly built warfighting readiness\u201d for the allies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should also give pause to any adversary who does not believe in a free and open Pacific, who does not believe in transparency, who does not seek peaceful resolution but would seek to use force to impose their will on other sovereign nations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Also on Friday, National Security Adviser Eduardo A\u00f1o called for the expulsion of Chinese diplomats he accused of \u201cmalign influence and interference,\u201d particularly for insisting that they had reached an informal agreement with AFP\u2019s Western Command on managing the Ayungin Shoal issue.<\/p>\n
Teodoro and A\u00f1o denied the Chinese embassy\u2019s claim, with the national security chief lambasting the diplomats for their \u201crepeated acts of engaging in and dissemination of disinformation, misinformation and malinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Beijing \u201csolemnly requires that the\u00a0Philippines\u00a0effectively ensures that Chinese diplomats can perform their duties normally, stops infringement and provocation.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a post on X, Philippine Coast Guard Commodore Jay Tarriela said efforts to expose China\u2019s false narratives on the West Philippine Sea appeared to be bearing fruit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Chinese Communist Party\u2019s increasing efforts to carry out information operations and undermine our transparency strategy in the West Philippine Sea is a clear indication that our countermeasures against their lies, misinformation and fake news are effective,\u201d Tarriela wrote on X.<\/p>\n
He also castigated \u201cpaid trolls and pro-China influencers\u201d and challenged them \u201cto look straight in the eyes of their children and grandchildren (and tell them) that their fight is not for China\u2019s interest.\u201d<\/p>\n
At a forum in San Juan, former defense chief Norberto Gonzales said the government should prepare the country\u2019s 20 million youth \u201cfor war\u201d as China has intensified its encroachments in Philippine waters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should take advantage of our assets that others don\u2019t have, and that is our young people. If I am not mistaken, in terms of number, we have 20 million young Filipinos that we can train for war,\u201d Gonzales said at the Tapatan Forum at Club Filipino.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should show that we can act as one people and the underlying fundamental reason why we can act as one people is because all of us have the same love for the same country,\u201d he said, adding that China\u2019s expansionist bid has become clearer.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wants to become a world power. He is envious of the United States and no less than our former ambassador has said that one way to really mobilize the Chinese people behind the government is that there is an external threat to China. The Chinese party has wisely chosen the Philippines to be an enemy as it can easily defeat us,\u201d Gonzales said, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n
He noted that the Chinese allegedly have been bribing some Filipinos to discredit the current administration.<\/p>\n
\u201cChina does not see an element of love for the country. China considers us as cheap that can be bribed. That is the image of the Philippines. That has to change,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
At the same forum, former national security adviser Clarita Carlos urged the Marcos administration to push through with its plan to renegotiate the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) with the US to make it more responsive to the present situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring a Cabinet meeting, he (Marcos) asked me to put together the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of National Defense and I was the team leader but I already left (the Cabinet) and we only had four meetings,\u201d she said. She did not specify which provision in the MDT should be renegotiated.<\/p>\n
Carlos also said the PCG should be returned to the AFP. \u201cRemember that the Philippine Coast Guard used to be folded within the AFP. I raised this issue because these are very important things. Right now, structurally, there should be unity of command. The secretary of the Department of Transportation should not meddle with the PCG, it should be the AFP,\u201d she added<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the US on Thursday turned over to the PCG a new facility for repair and maintenance of its maritime assets.<\/p>\n
The US, represented by its embassy\u2019s Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Ewing, turned over to Vice Admiral Allan Victor dela Vega, PCG\u2019s deputy commandant for administration, the newly constructed \u201cMaintenance and Repair Group Workshop Facility\u201d at the headquarters of the PCG\u2019s Maritime Safety Services Command in Sangley Point, Cavite City.<\/p>\n
The new facility would \u201cenhance the units\u2019 capabilities in terms of ships and small boat repair and maintenance in order to deliver the best services of PCG floating assets to the country,\u201d according to the PCG. \u2014 Marc Jayson Cayabyab<\/p>\n
MANILA, Philippines \u2014 Moves to allow internet registration and voting among overseas Filipinos gained ground at the House of Representatives, which approved a measure\u00a0on this on second reading.<\/p>\n
House Bill No. 19178 hurdled the second reading during a plenary session of the House last Wednesday. It shall amend Republic Act 9189 or the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003.<\/p>\n
The bill, which shall be known as \u201cOverseas Electronic Registration and Voting Act,\u201d will allow qualified Filipinos abroad to vote \u201cby electronic means, including, but not limited to web-based portals and other internet-based technologies to receive ballots and cast votes thereon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Currently Filipinos abroad cast their votes either in person at any post abroad or at any designated voting center outside the post by mail, while registration is done in person.<\/p>\n
The measure mandates the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to institute safeguards to protect the data privacy rights of overseas voters.<\/p>\n
Based on a committee report, the proposed bill is intended to expand the options for registration and voting for Filipino overseas.<\/p>\n
OFW partylist Rep. Marissa Magsino, who principally authored the bill, said this development is a triumph for overseas Filipinos.<\/p>\n
Magsino noted that allowing internet voting will provide Filipinos abroad with an \u201calternative, viable, convenient and secured means to exercise their right of suffrage, thereby allowing them to help shape the future of their families and their motherland.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHalf the battle is won and I consider this a victory for our overseas voters. We have long been fighting for internet voting and somehow, our efforts are starting to bear fruit,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Citing data from the Comelec, she said the turnout of voters among overseas Filipinos has been low. Of the 1.69 million registered overseas voters, including OFWs, only around 600,000 or 35.5 percent actually voted in the 2022 national and local elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe low voter turnout of overseas voters is a case of electoral disenfranchisement, regardless of whether voluntary or involuntary nature,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Magsino added that overseas Filipinos have long been clamoring for internet voting, especially those who do not have rest days to vote or those whose worksite is far from the Philippine embassies or consulate offices.<\/p>\n
MANILA, Philippines \u2014 The validation and registration of at least 300,000 poor families who will benefit from the\u00a0full implementation of the national government\u2019s food stamp program (FSP) will start this month, an official of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said yesterday.<\/p>\n
DSWD Undersecretary for innovations Eduardo Punay said the agency has already hired over 1,000 validators for the process.<\/p>\n
Punay declined to identify all the regions and provinces as President Marcos is expected to tackle the FSP in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July.<\/p>\n
The DSWD official said that one is the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, with the provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi as among the targets.<\/p>\n
Unlike previous food-feeding programs, Punay said the FSP is different as the agency is giving dignity to the beneficiaries who will no longer have to wait for hours in long queues just to get their benefits.<\/p>\n
Instead, the recipients will receive their assistance through electronic beneficiary transfer cards.<\/p>\n
The government earlier allocated around P1.89 billion for the scaled-up program.<\/p>\n
Another feature of the FSP is that the beneficiaries have the option to choose what nutritious food they want to eat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s the purchasing power, there\u2019s the right to choose,\u201d Punay said.<\/p>\n
Families with an income of P8,300 a month are considered food poor, according to Punay, citing a study from the Philippine Statistics Authority.<\/p>\n
The DSWD official said that the FSP aims to benefit around one million food-poor families by 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MANILA, Philippines \u2014 Senator Bato dela Rosa yesterday gave more details about the unnamed ranking police official allegedly convincing\u00a0cops\u00a0to testify against him in his drug war crimes case before the International Criminal Court (ICC). In a dwIZ interview yesterday, Dela Rosa said the unnamed \u201cupper classman\u201d who betrayed him is in a powerful position under […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3900],"class_list":["post-2583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Headlines","tag-DEPARTMENTOFSOCIALWELFAREANDDEVELOPMENT"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}